The home side were the brighter team throughout, but were hampered by a harsh red card to central defender Giulio Falcone after 36 minutes.

Their resistance was broken eight minutes into the second half when Edinson Cavani headed the Rosanero ahead, but three minutes later, Fabio Quagliarella scored a deserved equaliser.

The Sicilians were unable to make their one-man advantage count against a brave Blucerchiati, who draw their second home game in a row but, given the circumstances, will not be too disappointed.

Samp coach Walter Novellino welcomed Gianluca Berti back in goal for the first time in 2007 while Andrea Parola was preferred to replace the suspended Christian Zenoni.

His Palermo counterpart Francesco Guidolin was forced to watch the game from the stands as he began a three-game touchline ban.

Before moving upstairs, Guidolin had to make one alteration to his plans since Alberto Fontana pulled out with the flu and Federico Agliardi took his place between the posts.

Whether it was nerves on the part of the 24-year-old goalkeeper or a divot on the heavily-worn pitch, he almost let in Samp striker Quagliarella when he hashed a routine clearance, only to recover at the second attempt.

Palermo did not offer much in the first half, but they actually came closest to breaking the deadlock in the 19th minute when David Di Michele shot against the outside of the post.

But it was the home side who continued to pose the greater threat with Quagliarella and Emiliano Bonazzoli combining well and Gennaro Delvecchio advancing regularly to support his strikers.

Delvecchio advanced a split second too soon before scoring in the 30th minute, only to see the flag raised for offside.

The turning point in the match arrived in the 36th minute when Falcone was sent off by referee Emidio Morganti.

There did not appear to be any malice in Falcone's challenge on Simplio, nor was he the last man with the action near the halfway line, but Morganti instantly pulled the red card from his pocket and sent the Samp defender for an early bath.

The home side laboured on until half-time before Novellino made a change in personnel with Luigi Sala coming in to replace Daniele Franceschini Sala was still acclimatising himself to his position when Cavani crept in to nod the Rosanero ahead.

The Uruguayan met Mattia Cassani's cross with a neatly flicked header which left Berti no chance.

The home side were level within three minutes, though, as a calamitous breakdown in communication between Andrea Barzagli and Agliardi allowed Quagliarella to steal the ball and place it into the empty goal.

It was difficult to see which team had a full complement of players and which had just ten men.

Only the tired legs, most notably of Quagliarella and Bonazzoli, indicated that it was the Blucerchiati who were suffering from having to cover more ground, but they were not going to let up and managed to keep Palermo at a safe distance from their goal.

The Rosaneri appeared to lack ideas and could have no complaints at drawing once again.